Fair use & free speech

Earlier I posted a link to this hilarious cartoon. It's a witty political commentary where actors impersonating US presidential Bush & Kerry sing "This Land is Your Land" with different lyrics.

The parody was written by Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, brothers and business partners who run a small animation studio out of a warehouse in Santa Monica, Calif. "We do these things as a labor of love," Evan Spiridellis, 30, said in a phone interview this week. He thinks the appeal stems from the even-handed approach of the film -- Bush and Kerry get equal time and are equally ridiculed.

Well Ludlow Music, owners of the rights to the original song, are threatening to sue the brothers.

According to CNN, the publisher thinks the animation "threatens to corrupt Guthrie's classic—an icon of Americana—by tying it to a political joke; upon hearing the music people would think about the yucks, not Guthrie's unifying message.

*GAG* Thankfully the defenders of freedom, the EFF (who I support) are going to court to defend the brothers. Here's hoping humor and common sense wins!